Expensive to Treat, Will Hepatitis Soon Be the Next Big Killer?

#WorldHepatitisDay - 4 to 6 crore Indians are infected with Hepatitis, is India equipped to handle the epidemic?

(July 28th is observed as the World Hepatitis Day. Globally 1.4 million people die each year from hepatitis and this day serves as a reminder to governments and policy makers to know the disease and take action)

“Infected”, “virus”, “disease” and “chronic” are not words you want to hear from your doctor, not at any time, especially not in your early twenties.

37-year-old Mumbaikar, Shekhar heard the exact words 15 years back at the age of 22.

I had no symptoms and could never imagine living with a chronic blood disease like Hepatitis C. There was hardly any awareness at that time. I was crying because I had something inside me, wondering how early will I die.
– Shekhar *, Hepatitis Patient

According to the World Health Organisation, around one lakh Indians die of hepatitis every year. 4-6 crore people in the country are carriers of this viral disease, and most of them are unaware of their infection, putting them at a serious risk of developing liver cirrhosis or liver cancer.

Yet the government doesn’t even have a hepatitis policy or an eradication goal.

• WHO: Hepatitis is 3 times more infectious than HIV.
  
• WHO: 4-6 crore Indians get infected from Hepatitis; a lakh succumb to the disease every year.
  
• India did not have facilities to screen blood for Hepatitis till 1996. Many people unknowingly got infected before that.
  
• Health Ministry: 40% infants are still not vaccinated against Hepatitis B & C.